Rabbits are routinely
used because they are docile and thus easy to manipulate.1 Mice are exploited
even more often since they are inexpensive and easy to handle. The federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA)
is meant to secure the basic rights of animals in laboratories, such as
access to food and water. But
many animals, such as
reptiles, birds, rats and mice are intentionally excluded.2
These animals are given absolutely no legal protection from neglect and abuse.

WHERE THE ANIMALS COME FROMOver 50,000 primates die
in U.S. laboratories ever year.3Some of these are bred in captivity; others are captured in the
jungles of Africa and Southeast Asia. Wild-caught primates are imported by commercial dealers. These individuals “buy” trapped animals, box them in small crates with little to no food or water, and cargo ship them
around the world. Many die in the process.4,5,6

Even when not being poisoned or mutilated in actual experiments, the lives of animals in laboratories are
nightmarish. Many spend the entirety of their lives in small, barren metal cages. The isolation and boredom alone often cause social animals to become psychotic.

Animals in laboratories are viewed merely as objects. Their ability to suffer and feel is denied or disregarded. As mere test subjects they
are handled roughly, with no thought to their distress, fear or pain.
When not being experimented on, these animals still enjoy no comfort at
all, sleeping on cement or metal flooring.

5. British Union Against Vivisection, "Primates in Transit," (June 2004).

6. Mark J. Prescott and Maggy Jennings,
Research Animals Department, RSPCA, "Ethical and Welfare Implications of the Acquisition and Transport of Non-human Primates for Use in Research and Testing," (2004).